Fire alert over 'smoke' at Morrisons in Market Drayton
Shoppers and staff were evacuated today when the Morrisons supermarket in Market Drayton appeared to fill up with smoke.
Firefighters were called to the store in Maer Lane at about 5.45pm to reports of smoke coming from the building.
On arrival, the crews from Hodnet and Market Drayton used breathing apparatus and a hose reel jet, but found there was no fire.
Watch manager Mark Smith said they believed the incident was started by a leak from high pressure hose within the roof, leaking refrigerant gas, which is used in a walk-in fridge, into the store.
He said: "They all followed the correct procedure and we had to send for a specialist engineer.
"We have ventilated the site as well.
"The gas can be an asphyxiant in large quantities but we are not worried about it being dangerous at this moment in time.
"It is not something that happens often. To be honest when we arrived it was a bit of a surprise, we did think it was a fire.
"It did look full of smoke. It was quite heavy in some areas."
Mr Smith said because of the way the gas is pressured and can then freeze, it can look very similar to smoke.
He added that staff had acted in the appropriate way and by the time firefighters arrived the store was evacuated.
Shoppers were told the store would be closed for the evening, but the petrol station remained open.
